SECURITY COUNCIL WELCOMES SUCCESS ON PREPARATORY MEETING

In a short meeting this evening, that followed a closed briefing by the Facilitator for the inter-Congolese dialogue, Ketumile Masire, the Security Council made a presidential statement expressing its support for the Facilitator and welcomed the success of the preparatory meeting for the inter-Congolese dialogue.

The meeting commenced at 6.45 p.m. and ended at 6.52 p.m.

Presidential Statement

The full text of the statement S/PRST/2001/22, which was read by Council President Jean-David Levitte of France, is as follows:

"The Security Council welcomes the success of the preparatory meeting of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, held in Gaborone on 20-24 August 2001.

"The Security Council reiterates its strong support for the Inter-Congolese Dialogue and for the efforts of the Facilitator and his team in the field. It calls on all the Congolese parties to further cooperate with each other and the Facilitator in the constructive spirit of Gaborone to ensure the successful outcome of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue starting on 15 October 2001, in Addis Ababa.

"The Security Council stresses the importance for the dialogue to be free from outside interference, open, representative and inclusive, and emphasizes the need to ensure adequate representation of Congolese women in the process.

"The Security Council encourages donors to provide further support to the Facilitator for the inter-Congolese dialogue and, in due course, the process of implementing a new political dispensation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

"The Security Council urges all the parties to the Lusaka Cease-fire Agreement to press forward with the full and early implementation of that agreement, including disarmament, demobilization, reintegration, repatriation and resettlement of the armed groups and the withdrawal of foreign forces."

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*4364th Meeting was closed.

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For information media. Not an official record.

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Daily Noon Briefing

The Secretary-General condemned today’s murder of a Palestinian child in the West Bank and called for the perpetrators of that terrorist act to be promptly brought to justice. He expressed his deepest condolences to the family of Ali Dawabsha, who were themselves severely injured in the arson attack. He urged both sides to take bold steps to return to the path of peace.